Pages

Saturday, September 4, 2010

I haven't been updating about our garden this year, the way I did last year, but on sunny mornings this is the view that greets me as I walk out the door when I leave for work. I love the way the sun shines on the chocolate mint plants, which are potted in hanging pots currently setting on the ground. I love their green leaves and reddish stems.

In the foreground you can see a couple of the tomatoes that probably won't ripen this year (we gotten zero, so far). We planted two plants, and have two volunteers from last year. June is just too cold here to get many things growing. It's the chard and yellow squash that are doing the best; in fact, they are both producing more than we can eat. Oh, and also the basil: it's been hung and dried, and it's ground leaves are mostly away in little jars for the winter.

The white flowers in the background, seen mostly as shadows, are cilantro plants that went to seed very rapidly. I'll have to check to see if the seeds can be used for coriander.

Many continued thanks to Julia, at Stages of Succession, for sending the chocolate mint across the ocean!

Green tomatoes are probably all I'm going to get this year also. Portland's weather just hasn't cooperated enough to allow for ripening. I do have a nice recipe for spiced green tomatoes that make for an excellent pie filling. I do like the suggestion for frying them, also. You can just batter them like fish and fry them in oil.

EGF, I think we'll have to make it next year without trying tomatoes. We have to buy them almost ready to ripen in June, although we tried indoors from scratch this year, and that was worse than last year. What we need is our own greenhouse, and space for the greenhouse, besides!